Floor cleaning in public, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings have led to the development of various specialized floor cleaning machines, such as hard and soft floor cleaning machines. These cleaning machines generally utilize a cleaning liquid dispensing system and a cleaning head to perform a floor cleaning operation.
The cleaning liquid dispensing system generally dispenses a cleaning liquid that includes water and a chemically based detergent. The detergent typically includes a solvent, a builder, and a surfactant. The cleaning head typically includes one or more disc-type scrubbing brushes, which may be located in front of, under or behind the floor cleaning machine. The scrubbing brushes typically include nylon bristles, pads or other fibers. The scrubbing brushes are motorized to rotate during cleaning operations. The rotation of the scrubbing brushes causes the brushes to scrub the surface being cleaned as they engage the surface.
While detergents increase cleaning effectiveness for a variety of different soil types, such as dirt and oils, these detergents also have a tendency to leave unwanted residue on the cleaned surface. Such residue can adversely affect the appearance of the surface and the tendency of the surface to re-soil. Additionally, the detergents may not be environmentally friendly. Some mobile floor cleaning machines have been fitted with electrolysis cells for producing an electrochemically-activated cleaning liquid by electrolyzing a feed liquid such as tap water.
Improved floor cleaning heads, mobile floor cleaners, and floor cleaning methods are desired for reducing the use of detergents cleaning operations, while maintaining the efficacy of the floor cleaning operation.